Welby apologizes for persecution on the grounds of sexuality

Anglican Primates Meeting concludes with commitment to walk together

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby makes a point Jan. 15 during a press conference held after the five-day Anglican Primates Meeting at Canterbury Cathedral in England. Photo: Matthew Davies/Episcopal News Service

[Episcopal News Service – Canterbury, England] Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby apologized Jan. 15 to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people for the hurt and pain they have experienced by the Anglican Communion over the years.

The protestors, many of whom spoke with the media about the persecution they have faced, challenged the so-called “consequences” asked for by the primates as homophobic because they were a direct response to the decision by the Episcopal Church’s General Convention last July to change canonical language that defines marriage as being between a man and a woman (Resolution A036). That convention also authorized two new marriage rites with language allowing them to be used by same-sex or opposite-sex couples (Resolution A054).

“The group outside … reminds us of the pain and suffering of many LGBTI people around the world and the extreme suffering in some countries where they are criminalized,” Welby told the media. “It is for me a constant source of deep sadness that people are persecuted for their sexuality … I want to take this opportunity personally to say how sorry I am for the hurt and pain in the past and present that the church has caused.”

Welby’s words may provide some comfort to those who are marginalized because of their sexuality. Meanwhile, some African provinces continue to support the criminalization of homosexuals in countries such as Nigeria and Uganda.

On two occasions, in response to media questions, Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon, secretary general of the Anglican Communion, talked of the frustration in some African provinces of Western cultural understandings of sexuality being “imposed” on their communities.

“There are gays and lesbians in Africa, of course there are and we have always had them,” said Idowu-Fearon. “But generally on the continent of Africa our culture does not support the promotion of this type of lifestyle … If the Western world would just leave Africans within our various cultures, we know how to live together with our various differences … The primates have made it very clear that we have always made room for pastoral care and concern for those who have different sexual orientation. When we begin to make everybody, irrespective of their sexual orientation, feel a part of the family we will have some respite.”

In their communiqué, titled “Walking Together in the Service of God in the World,” the primates said they condemn “homophobic prejudice and violence and resolved to work together to offer pastoral care and loving service irrespective of sexual orientation. This conviction arises out of our discipleship of Jesus Christ.

They also said that the Christian church and the Anglican Communion have “caused deep hurt” by the way they have treated people based on their sexual orientation. The primates said they “express their profound sorrow and affirm again that God’s love for every human being is the same, regardless of their sexuality, and that the church should never by its actions give any other impression.”

The primates said in their communiqué that their first item of business during their Jan. 11-15 gathering was to discuss “the differences among us in regard to our teaching on matters of human sexuality.”

A group of some 40 gay and lesbian Africans gathers outside Canterbury Cathedral Jan. 15 to protest the actions of the Anglican Communion primates in calling for the exclusion of the Episcopal Church from Anglican dialogues and committees. Photo: Matthew Davies/Episcopal News Service

They said they had to look at what it meant “in practical terms” to live out their desire ‘to walk together, however painful this is, and despite our differences, as a deep expression of our unity in the body of Christ.” The communiqué said a working group of primates developed the series of actions imposed on the Episcopal Church as a consequence of its actions at General Convention.

On Jan. 14, a majority of the primates said that the Episcopal Church, for a period of three years, should “no longer represent us on ecumenical and interfaith bodies, should not be appointed or elected to an internal standing committee, and that while participating in the internal bodies of the Anglican Communion, they will not take part in decision making on any issues pertaining to doctrine or polity.”

While some participants and some observers are referring to the primates’ request as “sanctions,” the communiqué calls them “consequences” for the actions of the Episcopal Church. At the post-meeting news conference Welby insisted on the consequences terminology.

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry said Jan. 15 in a video statement recorded outside Canterbury Cathedral that “this has been a disappointing time for many, and there will be heartache and pain for many, but it’s important to remember that we are still part of the Anglican Communion.

“We are the Episcopal Church, and we are part of the Jesus Movement, and that movement goes on, and our work goes on. And the truth is, it may be part of our vocation to help the Communion and to help many others to grow in a direction where we can realize and live the love that God has for all of us, and we can one day be a church and a Communion where all of God’s children are fully welcomed, where this is truly a house of prayer for all people.”

The Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, president of the Episcopal Church’s House of Deputies, sent a letter Jan. 15 to deputies and alternate deputies concerning the actions taken by the Primates Meeting to impose consequences on the church for its actions on same-sex marriage.

Many of the Episcopal Church’s bishops have written to their dioceses about the primates’ action. Episcopal News Service has collected those statements, as they are made available, here.

The primates also asked Welby to appoint a task group “to maintain conversation among ourselves with the intention of restoration of relationship, the rebuilding of mutual trust, healing the legacy of hurt, recognizing the extent of our commonality, and exploring our deep differences, ensuring they are held between us in the love and grace of Christ.”

In their communiqué, they said they will “develop this process so that it can also be applied when any unilateral decisions on matters of doctrine and polity are taken that threaten our unity.”

Archbishop Foley Beach, the leader of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), met with the primates throughout the week. Beach was invited by Welby in an effort to avert a boycott from conservative African archbishops such as the one that occurred at the last Primates Meeting in 2011. ACNA is composed largely of former Episcopalians who chose to break away from the Episcopal Church. Some African primates have declared their affiliation to ACNA.

Foley told ACNA members that the consequences imposed on the Episcopal Church “are strong, but they are not strong enough.” He said he was “deeply disappointed” that the Anglican Church of Canada had not had the same consequences imposed on it as those set the Episcopal Church. The Anglican Church of Canada allows its clergy to bless same-sex couples and is considering changes to its canons that would allow for same-sex marriage.

The primates said in their communiqué that they cannot recognize ACNA as a member of the communion because that decision properly belongs to the Anglican Consultative Council. The primates said they “recognize that such an application, were it to come forward, would raise significant questions of polity and jurisdiction.”

The ACC has detailed the steps necessary for the amendments of existing provincial constitutions and the creation of new provinces. In 1996, it set its most extensive description of the process in Resolution 12 passed at its meeting in Panama City, Panama.

The primates of the Anglican Communion pose Jan. 14 in Canterbury Cathedral in England.

Also in the communiqué, the primates said they:

* supported Welby’s proposal to call a Lambeth Conference gathering of all of the communion’s bishops, in 2020. The last meeting was in 2008 and the conference has traditionally happened every 10 years. However, Welby had already said the bishops would not meet in 2018.

* agreed to meet again in 2017 and 2019.

* heard about a petition of almost two million signatures co-coordinated by the Anglican Environment Network, reports about moves to divest from fossil fuels, the expansion of deserts in Africa and “the struggle for survival of the peoples of the Pacific as island life is threatened in many places by the rise of sea levels.”

* “discussed the reality of religiously motivated violence and its impact on people and communities throughout the world. Primates living in places where such violence is a daily reality spoke movingly and passionately about their circumstances and the effect on their members.”

* “repudiated any religiously motivated violence and expressed solidarity with all who suffer from this evil in the world today.”

* said they look forward to a proposal coming to the ACC for “comprehensive child protection measures to be available throughout all the churches of the Communion.”

* were “energized by the opportunity to share experiences of evangelism and motivated to evangelize with their people,” and said they “joyfully commit themselves and the Anglican Church, to proclaim throughout the world the person and work of Jesus Christ, unceasingly and authentically, inviting all to embrace the beauty and joy of the Gospel.”

* discussed what they called “tribalism, ethnicity, nationalism and patronage networks, and the deep evil of corruption” and “reflected that these issues become inextricably connected to war and violence, and derive from poverty.” They agreed to ask the secretary general of the Anglican Communion to commission a study for the next Primates Meeting.

Who are the primates?
Primates are the senior archbishops and presiding bishops elected or appointed to lead each of the 38 autonomous provinces of the Anglican Communion. They are invited to the Primates Meetings by the Archbishop of Canterbury to consult on theological, social and international issues.

Each province relates to other provinces within the Anglican Communion by being in full communion with the See of Canterbury. The Archbishop of Canterbury calls the Lambeth Conference, chairs the meeting of primates and is president of the ACC.

In some Anglican provinces the primate is called archbishop and/or metropolitan, while in others the term presiding bishop – or as in Scotland, primus – is used.

The Archbishop of Canterbury also invites to the primates’ meetings the moderators who lead the united ecumenical churches of North India, South India and Pakistan.

In 1978 Archbishop Donald Coggan, the 101st Archbishop of Canterbury, established the Primates Meeting as an opportunity for “leisurely thought, prayer and deep consultation.”

The primates have met in Ely, England, in 1979; Washington, D.C., in 1981; Limuru, Kenya, in 1983; Toronto, Canada, in 1986; Cyprus in 1989; Newcastle, Northern Ireland, in 1991; Cape Town, South Africa, in 1993; Windsor, England, in 1995; Jerusalem in 1997; Oporto, Portugal, in 2000; Kanuga Conference Center, Hendersonville, North Carolina, in 2001; Canterbury, England, in 2002; Gramodo, Brazil, in May 2003; London, England, in October 2003; Newry, Northern Ireland, in February 2005; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in February 2007; Alexandria, Egypt, in February 2009; and Dublin, Ireland, in January 2011.

Comments

Since we have been suspended from the Anglican Communion can a church leave and go with ACNA. They seem to have a very good Bishop and hear they are really growing. I did not realize that ACNA was a partner in the Anglican Communion.

I think Mr Brown has a very good point about the status of ACNA. From the perspective of those congregations which have departed from and are in legal action with The Episcopal Church, having the ACNA leadership recognized by having representation at the Primates meeting and the suspension of TEC must be very good news. I’m sure courts in South Carolina and other jurisdictions will take note.

Ah, Christopher, but there’s the rub. ACNA’s Archbishop Foley was originally only going to be around for the start of the meeting, and then leave. In fact, he stayed the entire time and gave voice but no vote. That was no mistake or accident or oversight. When asked, the Archbishop of Canterbury had not decided on an invite to Foley for Lambeth 2020.
I guess it all depends on who acts more impetuously and self-satisfied during the next three years. There are still bonds of affection in the Communion and with the ABC for the disaffected traditionalists who used to be valued in TEC.

Christopher, if you look a little deeper you will find that ACNA is in full communion with many more provinces in the Anglican Communion than TEC. ACNA is a full member of GAFCON and in communion with Global South provinces that comprise about 78 percent of the of the Anglicans in the world. I say ACNA is more Anglican than TEC. I have read that Archbishop Foley did in fact vote at the meeting but chose not to vote on the sanctions on TEC.

This statement from Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon is quite puzzling “If the Western world would just leave Africans within our various cultures, we know how to live together with our various differences.” It seems to be the African churches that aren’t leaving our church and culture alone. TEC has not tried to impose gay marriage on anyone else. We haven’t even made a big deal of the egregious human rights violations. So… me thinks he is projecting.

Cynthia,
I appreciate your comment. I would point out that the reason the African churches have a prohibition against homosexuality is due to the initial interference of a colonial England and the strictures of the Anglican church. When African were mostly animist, there was no prohibition on homosexuality. We (the Anglican Communion) brought this on ourselves. It’s funny that the Anglican Communion and Anglican churches in Africa turn a blind eye when priests and bishops have multiple wives. Why is this not brought up at a primates meeting? Oh right, because the meetings are now dominated by GAFCON.

Not exactly. TEC has imposed the full LGBT political agenda on all Episcopalians, whether they agree with it or not. I think many have been tolerant of “inclusion”, as was the Anglican Communion until the recent General Convention. Since the Supreme Court’s ruling granted the right to Same Sex Marriage; I don’t see why TEC Bishops felt the need to kick the extra point, by also changing the sacrament. It was really bad politics and the fallout shows how out of touch TEC bishops are with many Anglicans worldwide, many within their own denomination, and the thousands who have now left for ACNA churches. This is what happens when you have a small group of people who really only talk to each other and make leadership decisions in a political bubble. Now the other shoe has dropped. It’s really not very surprising for those who are looking at the larger picture. It was predictable.

I do not understand your reply. In what way has the agenda of ‘western’ provinces of the Communion been imposed on African provinces? I saw no resolution calling on African provinces to consecrate or bless same sex unions, or indeed adopt any other more inclusive practices of Western provinces, or face separation from the Communion.

I am not, for the moment, trying to be argumentative. I am honestly trying to understand the perspective that practices are being imposed on African provinces. Does sitting and praying together while acknowledging our differences amount to one side imposing its practices on the other? I have heard that view before, and it leaves me puzzled.

What are you talking about?…I am a heterosexual woman, married after 30 years and with 3 grown-up kids…nobody in TEC is forcing me to be a lesbian, or to leave my husband and marry another woman, nobody is forcing me to anything

Why should we USA Episcopalian want to be part of the Anglican community anymore after they’ve so haughtily rejected us? I don’t want to remain affiliated. And I hope USA Episcopalians *are very careful* w our financial support and don’t give to any African causes that support/raise up African bishops. ie. Trinity Wall St has almost given $5 million Annually to AFrica. We can be kind and speak of our pain in terms of breaking off from Canterbury but we are going through a divorce and divorce is painful for all. Let’s move on from this horrible situation.

Agreed Dolly,
Money talks and since the African churches are primarily supported by Anglican affiliated churches in the developed world, mostly the ECUSA, churches in the ECUSA should cut off all financial support to the Anglican Communion until all voting rights and participation in the Communion are reinstated.

To my Christian brethren in America:
This is not an issue of money, it is about the authority of Christ himself and that of the Gospels. You cannot buy your way out of God’s righteous ways with money. See how the American policies are going wrong all over the world for believing in the power of money and aid to force their way in world politics! Even if you withhold the donations of the Faithful which they freely gave to further the Kingdom, the Church of Christ will remain strong to carry the banner forward in the war against the wicked one (satan). Be reminded that even in a poor country like South Sudan, where I hail, the Gospel of Christ and the Faith which was handed to the followers of Christ by Christ Himself and by His Apostles and by the Saints and the martyrs and God loving peoples throughout the ages is being received with great enthusiasm thru the help of the Holy Spirit. In Juba town where I live, the Gospel is being preached as it should be and the Churches are full with the faithful. I know of three Episcopal parishes that receive over 3,000 worshippers and others ranging between 600 to over 1,500 congregants during the Eucharistic prayers or the Family Service. Even if, in their poverty, a member pays just one dollar or fifty cents, would such a Church not maintain herself? Please, mind your words. The time of applying the principle of the whip or the carrot is gone. In your riches, mind the purpose for which your own Church goers are contributing money. I believe they contribute their money for the furtherance of the Kingdom not to pursue agendas that undermine the purposes of God.

meaningless drivel from an out of touch bureaucrat too little too late and totally done for the effect…..shake the sand from your feet as you leave folks…..why would we stay at the party too which we are now uninvited? May every primate sleep soundly and well for having performed such admirable pastoral service.

The Primates are not bureaucrats, they are servants of Christ to serve Him and His Church. In true Xtian spirit and love, they have given you 3 yrs to rethink after which if you think fit, you may walk away. It is the Primates that are entitled to dusting their feet, not those who reject the Word. Not the Primates only but all the people of God may sleep soundly for the supremacy of the Word of God, and of Xtian and of the Holy Spirit that continue to inform the decisions of Church leaders.

Welby’s statements seem contradictory to me. He apologizes for the way LGBT members have been treated by the Anglican Communion, yet the Primates issued consequences to TEC for allowing same sex marriages. Which to me says that he is apologizing for not treating these members as equals, and then is punishing TEC for moving to treating them as equals. Does this mean that maybe Welby is on our side and disagrees with the actions of the Primates? Or is he just trying to get along with both sides?

Well, Anglicans, welcome back to the fifteenth century. Perhaps we should re-visit witch burnings, and for that matter, lets burn at the stake those who fabricate liturgies. People are suffering as a direct and also indirect result of this Anglican audacity. I frankly hope we break away from the Canterbury boys, in a most firm and and didactical way. Let our G-d speak through us, and let no-one get in our way.

What is likely to happen is that TEC will no longer be part of the Anglican Communion, three years from now because it won’t reverse itself on the vote taken by its radicalized leadership to alter the sacrament of marriage. If that happens then ACNA will join the Anglican Communion. TEC will continue as it is, and will be a stand alone denomination which appeals to those who are primarily interested in the LGBT agenda.

Talk about speaking out of both sides of your mouth. “We’re sanctioning the American Anglicans because they decided to marry gay people.” “But we’re also saying that people should be nice to gay people, while making no sanctions against the homophobic douche bags in Africa, who are so theologically lazy it makes your head spin.”

Proof yet again that when it comes to running a big denominations things are “easiest” if you just ignore the gospel.

In Acts chapter 8 the Ethiopian eunuch asks Phillip “What is to prevent me from being baptized?” Phillip could have given several reasons from Torah to the negative, but he does not. It seems to me that the Church has always been locked into questions about the implications of the Good News. Can we frame the discussion in this way so that there are no good guys and bad guys, but instead broken people trying to wrap our heads around the radical nature of God?

David, the Gospel tells us that marriage is for one man and one woman for life. Sex in any form outside of marriage is a sin and chastity is to be maintained. God destroyed Sodom and Gomorra for the sexual misconduct that was taking place. The Anglican Communion addressed this issue and unanimously agreed that marriage was for one man and one woman. In fact this weeks gospel reading is about the wedding of a man and a woman in Cana where Jesus performed his first miracle in the turning water to wine. Sex outside of marriage is no greater than an other sin and we are all sinners. However, TEC chose without agreement or consultations with the other Anglican provinces to change its definition of marriage and bless the sin. That is why is has been sanctioned! Furthermore, TEC’s persecution of orthodox clergy, churches and diocese that chose to leave its heresy is not very Christian behavior. My question to you is what is a denomination worth if it ignores the Gospel? It is getting smaller and smaller while ACNA is growing by leaps and bounds.

…the 1 percent homosexual leadership needs to be apologizing for keeping out Episcopalians who do not accept their sexual bent…hence not being allowed into leadership and has had a part in the martyrdom of many faithful..you can love whomever…you are not always to have sex with the the person you love…

…this issue in the Episcopal church in America is going much deeper..with the hidden homosexuals now in leadership one senses a dismissal of the scripture e.g. adult forums turning into work out forums…

Gee, did Jesus live out His ministry in “practical terms” or did He lead the way to our Heavenly Father? Basically, gentlemen, it’s called spiritual leadership. In their fear of us “imposing” on their lifestyles, they have imposed their will on TEC. Welty, speaking of leadership……

There is compromise that is given in the Bible with regards to homosexuality. Unfortunately, both sides in this case are too extreme following their egos instead of the work of God. To the Africans…. please know that the individuals who are homosexual are still part of the body of Christ. They are sinners just like you. No different than those heterosexuals who have sex outside of marriage (who constitute a much larger population than homosexuals who have sex (which is by definition outside of marriage)). Now to the other side. You can not ignore the scripture that the act of homosexuality is a sin. Christ explicitly talks of marriage between a man and women, so marriage is not an option for homosexuals. So, God created homosexuals, and his command for them by default is to have a celibate life. That is the clear and logical end of scripture. Please stop trying to re-interpret scripture to satisfy your own egos. You follow God, not the other way around. That is the way Christianity works.

God says DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY and THOU SHALT NOT KILL. 400 years later, King David, whom God Himself chose, is married to multiple wives and kills indiscriminately. Pretty bad when the OT saints didn’t even take God seriously, yet this is “inerrant”?

It amazes me how people have the nerve to speak with unearned authority on things they know nothing about – speaking as if scripture has been clearly sewn up on matters where there is much justified disagreement, ongoing scholarship and debate, acting as if they know the mind of God and his intentions. Christ had to speak to his immediate audience, and left it to our intelligence to account for the fact that he couldn’t cover every permutation of human characteristics or culture for millennia to come. The fact that he omitted something does not automatically turn it into a sin for which people are to be subjugated. Perhaps someone who is homosexual MIGHT have put a little more thought into it than someone who is not, and might actually be a better authority on why/how they were created and how to live in the path that God has set for them, than someone who is pointing a finger from outside with no real understanding of what is going on in our lives – an understanding that we commonly refer to as “compassion” and which is completely lacking in such individuals on this matter.
I also refuse to give credit to the argument that by failing to maintain and support prejudice against gay people, TEC is imposing beliefs or practices on anyone. As Ms. Fields pointed out, allowing same-sex marriage does not force anyone to participate in one – or even attend a ceremony. Nothing is being “imposed” upon anyone. Their real complaint is that TEC has suggested through its actions that perhaps individuals do not have automatic claim to superiority and dominance simply by virtue of being heterosexual – and such people hate to give up any shred of a claim to dominance. Someone suggesting you drop the stick with which you have been beating others is not the equivalent of hitting you with that stick. Essentially the same gut reaction of those who opposed racial equality in the civil rights movement in the US – “How dare you impose your will and dominance upon me by saying that I should stop imposing my will and dominance in others; Telling me to stop being abusive is abusive to ME”. No, the struggle for racial equality and LGBT rights is not identical – however the character of the reactions of those opposing them are.

To Mr Fitzgerald
No, Sir. Our Lord did not omit homosexuality when He spoke about marriage. Homosexuality was fully addressed once and for all in Sodom and the other city centuries earlier before Christ by God the Creator himself whose knowledge on all things, past, present and future, passes all understanding.
Stephen Abraham

Lead ECUSA! Lead! This is no different from anti-slavery views in 19th century America, views on interracial marriage and women priests in the 20th. We evolve through the message of God’s love.
Jesus saw the corruption of Jewish leaders and we must see the corruption (of His Gospel) going on in the universal church today. Lead by spirit and conviction…and cut all the purse strings to Canterbury and any mission, hospital, church on African soil. There are plenty suffering poor on our Native reservations who need the help and funds we now send to Africa. Lead ECUSA! Lead!